2018 Roster Discussion

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a goalie's prime later and longer than a field player?

Sure.

But for salary comparisons sake. As of September 2018...

Melia (SKC) makes $318K
Guzan (ATL) makes $700K
Frei (SEA) makes $262K
Robles (NJ) makes $460K
Steffen (CLB) makes $145K
Rimando (RSL) makes $422K
Howard (COL) makes $2.48M
Blake (PHI) makes $500K

Johnson (NYCFC) makes $250K

I don't think he's worth $480K, especially since that means we'll need to spend TAM on him.
 
Sure.

But for salary comparisons sake. As of September 2018...

Melia (SKC) makes $318K
Guzan (ATL) makes $700K
Frei (SEA) makes $262K
Robles (NJ) makes $460K
Steffen (CLB) makes $145K
Rimando (RSL) makes $422K
Howard (COL) makes $2.48M
Blake (PHI) makes $500K

Johnson (NYCFC) makes $250K

I don't think he's worth $480K, especially since that means we'll need to spend TAM on him.
Seems like decent value to me. Goalkeeping is one area where America overproduces, so it's hard to imagine getting better and cheaper elsewhere. I don't see anyone on that list who provides a significantly better combination of shot stopping, leadership, organizational skills, distribution or decision making. Also Sean Johnson has slipped into this organization and set up like a hand in a glove. Disrupting that arrangement is fraught with risk.
 
Sure.

But for salary comparisons sake. As of September 2018...

Melia (SKC) makes $318K
Guzan (ATL) makes $700K
Frei (SEA) makes $262K
Robles (NJ) makes $460K
Steffen (CLB) makes $145K
Rimando (RSL) makes $422K
Howard (COL) makes $2.48M
Blake (PHI) makes $500K

Johnson (NYCFC) makes $250K

I don't think he's worth $480K, especially since that means we'll need to spend TAM on him.
Does the CBA expire this year or next? It wouldn't surprise me if 480k does not exceed the standard cap next season, thus not requiring TAM
 
Sure.

But for salary comparisons sake. As of September 2018...

Melia (SKC) makes $318K
Guzan (ATL) makes $700K
Frei (SEA) makes $262K
Robles (NJ) makes $460K
Steffen (CLB) makes $145K
Rimando (RSL) makes $422K
Howard (COL) makes $2.48M
Blake (PHI) makes $500K

Johnson (NYCFC) makes $250K

I don't think he's worth $480K, especially since that means we'll need to spend TAM on him.

Seems like decent value to me. Goalkeeping is one area where America overproduces, so it's hard to imagine getting better and cheaper elsewhere. I don't see anyone on that list who provides a significantly better combination of shot stopping, leadership, organizational skills, distribution or decision making. Also Sean Johnson has slipped into this organization and set up like a hand in a glove. Disrupting that arrangement is fraught with risk.

I like Johnson, the team seems to like Johnson, and if Reyna and Dome are happy with him, great. But his shotstopping and distribution numbers have never been much better than average and this deal would put him on the steep end of the salary curve for the position. Not sure that cap hit's justified for a guy who Dome acknowledged this week is still trying to master the distribution skills needed to fit his system.

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Villa missed 1/3 of the season. He’s essentially Frank Lamar’s right now.

If you didn’t want Lampard on this team, it’s difficult to understand why you want Villa back.
 
Villa missed 1/3 of the season. He’s essentially Frank Lamar’s right now.

If you didn’t want Lampard on this team, it’s difficult to understand why you want Villa back.
Completely different scenario. It's not the injury that ticked people off, it's the timing. Villa has been on this team for 4 years now, and one long injury spell. Lampard came in and immediately got the injury, leading to people being pissed because he came for a lot of $$, contributed nothing for that whole time... Once he came on though, and kept scoring, I'm sure most people would have been happy had he returned another year.
 
Completely different scenario. It's not the injury that ticked people off, it's the timing. Villa has been on this team for 4 years now, and one long injury spell. Lampard came in and immediately got the injury, leading to people being pissed because he came for a lot of $$, contributed nothing for that whole time... Once he came on though, and kept scoring, I'm sure most people would have been happy had he returned another year.


Lampard performed very well when he was on the field. In 2016, he was with us for the whole season. He was terrific when healthy. 2016 Lampard is similar to 2018 Villa.

Do folks believe that a 37 or 38 year old Villa will actually improve?
 
Lampard performed very well when he was on the field. In 2016, he was with us for the whole season. He was terrific when healthy. 2016 Lampard is similar to 2018 Villa.

Do folks believe that a 37 or 38 year old Villa will actually improve?
No one said improve, but rather he's been just-about consistent, and the injury thing might well not happen again next year? I personally think it's worth taking that risk. He's been immense.
 
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No one said improve, but rather he's been just-about consistent, and the injury thing might well not happen again next year? I personally think it's worth taking that risk. He's been immense.

I’m 33 years old. If I walk 2 miles around Philadelphia today, my calves and back hurt for 48 hours.

Villa is 37.
 
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Sure.

But for salary comparisons sake. As of September 2018...

Melia (SKC) makes $318K
Guzan (ATL) makes $700K
Frei (SEA) makes $262K
Robles (NJ) makes $460K
Steffen (CLB) makes $145K
Rimando (RSL) makes $422K
Howard (COL) makes $2.48M
Blake (PHI) makes $500K

Johnson (NYCFC) makes $250K

I don't think he's worth $480K, especially since that means we'll need to spend TAM on him.
Seems to me like Melia, Frei, and Steffen are underpaid and Guzan and Howard are overpaid.

Slotting Johnson in with Rimando and Robles seems about right to me. Though I will say Johnson’s form over the last 2 months or so has slipped a bit.
 
If shotstopping is a good benchmark for keeper value, he's paid about right as is. Lucking into a Turner or Attinella would be cool, but nothing wrong with sticking with a known quantity.

To be a NYCFC keeper you have to be not just a shot stopper but also good with your feet. Despite their shot stopping ability I don't think either Turner or Attinella would be a good fit for NYCFC based on what I have seen with the ball at their feet.
 
To be a NYCFC keeper you have to be not just a shot stopper but also good with your feet. Despite their shot stopping ability I don't think either Turner or Attinella would be a good fit for NYCFC based on what I have seen with the ball at their feet.

Wholeheartedly agree that good passing is essential for a keeper in this system, I'm just not certain Johnson stands out there either. He completes -1.2% fewer passes than expected in ASA's passing model, while Turner and Attinella are at +0.7% and +1.7%, respectively. Who knows whether their stats would shake out differently in a system where they're expected to pass more often from open play, under pressure, and shorter, but Steffen, Melia, and Guzan all manage better pass scores than Johnson in similar systems.

Kristian Dyer wrote about this in The Athletic last week: https://theathletic.com/625434/2018...his-passing-is-vital-to-nycfcs-style-of-play/

Without stepping on their subscription model, the gist is that Johnson says he's comfortable on the ball but Dome thinks he's still working his way up the learning curve for NYCFC-style passing.
 
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For those of you that want to bring back Villa on a DP contract, would you offer Danielle De Rossi a DP contract right now?